The Cask and Bull

an: I was given this as an assignment in my English class. Go easy on me please, I haven't had a chance to have anyone read this or get a beta to look over it for me. I was told to introduce 5 characters at least from different walks of life. They had to be going on an adventure of some sort. Let me know what you think. =]



Max drummed her fingers restlessly on the wooden counter top. Sighing, she checked the clock above the bar for the third time since she had arrived at the shady looking pub. 4:12, did these people have any concept of time? She continued to tap with one hand as she swirled her drink with the other. As Max looked into the amber liquid she couldn’t help but wonder if this class was a mistake. Fumbling through her purse Max found the worn scrap of paper shoved in the far side of her bag. She ran her fingers across the torn edge from where it had been ripped out of the Sunday paper and reread it for the hundredth time. “Want to learn to better your communications with those around you?? Want to make new friends?? Want to open your soul to the organisms around you?? Well here’s your chance!! Dawn Lily’s expeditionary meditation class. Come expand your mind and let your auras breathe!! Call (409) 998-6944 for more details.” She took a sip of her drink and grimaced as she looked up at the clock again, 4:26. Max had been completely exasperated when her boss had handed her the scrap of paper last week. She remembered back to that day.

“Hey Maxine, could I have a word with you?” Max looked up from her computer screen frowning, she hated when people used her full name. As her eyes fell upon her boss’s smiling face, Max inwardly cringed. Miss Diane, as she insisted on being called, was never a person whom Max was fond of. She was the type of woman who made it their business to fix everyone else’s problems. Max pushed her chair away from her desk and followed the perky blonde back to her office. “Go ahead and take a seat, Maxine.” Miss Diane said with a gesture to one of the horrid pastel chairs in front of her desk. Max crossed and uncrossed her legs several times nervously. She couldn’t think of any reason why Miss Diane would want to speak to her, had she done anything wrong? No, no she hadn’t, what on Earth could she want? “Maxine, darling.” Max cringed again, she hated pet names as well. “It’s come to my attention that you haven’t been able to click with any of the other employees working here. I wasn’t aware I’d hired such an introvert.” she said with a small giggle as though she had just told a fantastic joke.
Max cleared her throat before replying, “With all due respect, I don’t think making friends is necessary for my work.” Max prayed that Miss Diane would leave it at that, but she had no such luck.
“Well, that confirms it. I’m sending you to a class to help you open up. A happy worker is a productive worker.” Her boss said with a note of finality. Max slumped a little in the overly plush chair as Miss Diane handed her a clipping from the paper. “I found this little treat in the Sunday Times. I knew someone might make use of it and don’t worry at all dear the class’s cost is on the company. Now, back to work.” Miss Diane said ushering Max out of her office and closing her door sharply behind her. Max held the slightly crumpled snip-it of paper in her fist as she walked back to her desk. Sitting back in her seat she dared to take a look. As her eyes scanned the paper she let out a small groan and finishing, she let her head land with a thud on her keyboard.

Max came back to the present as the bell on the pub’s door resonated harshly into her thoughts. She downed the rest of her drink before swiveling around in her bar stool. She silently studied the man as he walked towards her. His chestnut colored hair was slicked back in a highly stylized cut that only brought more attention to his overly masculine jaw line. He stood very tall, maybe six foot two and struck quite a stunning figure in his gray Armani suit. Over all he looked just like every one of those arrogant jerks from work… except that you could tell he had more money. The man's only redeeming feature that she could see were his eyes, they were blue in color and almost shocking in their intensity. They held a sort of wisdom that was unexpected. He came and sat on the stool to her left and looked her up and down with a small grin on his face. Max crossed her arms in front of her suddenly feeling as though the pale pink sundress she had chosen to wear that morning was entirely too small. The man leaned forward and took a piece of her ebony hair and twirled it around his index finger. “Now what’s a pretty girl like you doing in a shabby place like this, hmmm?” he breathed into her ear. Max was immediately uncomfortable, she shivered and yanked her hair from his grasp and leaned towards the right.
Sneering she snapped at him “What’s it to you?”
“Just curious, Kitty.” He replied with a snicker. Max’s sneer grew deeper as she looked at him full of disdain. Who the hell did this guy think he was? “So, what’s your name Kitty?” he said leaning into her.
“Obviously it isn’t Kitty,” Max said as she leaned back so that she was almost bent in half, “but if you must know, it’s Max.”
“Max?” he snorted, “but that’s a boys name.”
“It’s short for Maxine.” she muttered under her breath.
“That’s pretty.” the stranger said leaning his elbow on the bar and resting his chin on his upturned palm.
"No, it's not." Max snarled placing her hand on his chest and shoving him back so she could breathe a little more comfortably. Glaring at the man in front of her she asked sarcastically “So, do I get to have the pleasure of knowing your name?”
“Of course.” he gave her his first genuine smile since he had walked into the bar, the affect it left on his face made her gasp. “The names Charles, Charles Caldwell, but you can call me Charlie.”

James leaned forward in his seat as he looked out the windshield of the cab. Two blocks or so, he’d walk it, no point in sitting here in this traffic. “This is fine.” he murmured handing the cabbie a twenty. Stepping out he stopped long enough to grab his weekend bag from the trunk of the car before he started walked down the street. The bar was on the corner of Hillside and Hamilton in one of the busiest parts of town, strange for such an ugly looking place. ‘I would fix that bar up if I owned it, it would make quite a profit.’ he thought to himself as he neared the pub. Looking down at his watch he let out a sigh of relief, 4:37, he was still early. Coming up to the front door of The Cask and Bull, he wiped his slightly sweaty hand on his slacks and walked in.
“…but you can call me Charlie.” James looked over to the bar and took in the sight of the enraged woman sitting next to the man who had just spoken. Her dark hair tumbled down her back in soft waves and her petite frame was clothed in a light pink, flowered dress. She had a petite nose and soft looking, rose-petal lips. She reminded him of a girl from high school, Lynne, he’d always had a thing for Lynne. His gaze then traveled to her companion, taking in the man’s expensive attire and over-confidence.
“Hello, nice to meet you Charlie, I’m James.” he said sticking his hand out to shake. Charlie turned towards him with a scowl.
“Can’t you see that the lady and I are busy?” Charlie asked with disgust tempering his voice. Max gave him a dark look before getting up and taking James’ hand and shaking it vigorously.
With a laugh she said “Hey James, I’m Max.”

Charlie watched Max and James mingle and his lip curled up. He couldn’t believe that not only was his normal charm failing miserably but now this nerd had come in and swept Max away from him. Sure, he wasn’t exactly sweeping her off of her feet to begin with, but now this guy was making it even harder! He continued to sneer as he took in James’ sage green button down that he’d tucked into his beige slacks. His messy blond hair was hanging into his face and thick glasses were perched on his too large nose. He had brown eyes that held a sickeningly vast amount of warmth and affection. Charlie immediately disliked him. Looking down at his watch he got a small amount of satisfaction, 4:48. At least James couldn’t do too much harm in twelve minutes.

Beth fiddled with her rings as she walked down the street. He had been following her for exactly eighty-three steps now. It was probably just a coincidence she told herself but she was beginning to feel nervous anyway. She had always been a bit paranoid but today she was already a bit frazzled so her paranoia was doubled at the very least. Her skirt floated around her ankles as she walked and her anklet jangled much louder than she could ever remember it doing before. She reached up and tucked a strand of her sandy blond hair behind one ear and heaved her bag higher on her shoulder. Her watery green eyes shot back and forth along the street. She could hear the clunk of his black leather combat boots hitting the pavement behind her. The clanking of his chains made her pick up her speed. She supposed she was being judgmental but at this point she was beyond caring. She let herself feel a bit of relief as she finally made her way inside the dingy pub she had been told to be at by 5:00. It was short lived though as her panic came back as he entered behind her. She rushed up to a small group sitting by the bar with the only thought in her mind being “safety in numbers.”

Luke was laughing, not on the outside of course, that would be unheard of, but none-the-less laughing. He could tell that he had freaked out the little hippie girl in front of him. He had gotten a slight amount of enjoyment out of watching her frantically look over her shoulder and speed up her pace until she was on the verge of jogging. He smiled seeing her enter The Cask and Bull. Maybe she was here for that meditation group too. His girlfriend had bullied him into taking the class, insisting that he would have “oodles of fun”. Why he listened to her he would never know. He pulled his jacket tighter around him and ruffled his dyed blue hair a bit. He pushed open the door and followed the little hippie girl over to a group of people three other people and smiled as she introduced herself as Beth. “Hey Beth, didn’t mean to freak you out back there.” he said from behind her. He watched her tense up before turning around.
“Uhm, hi. Who are you?” she asked with a panicked look on her face.
He gave another small smile “Luke Perkins, you guys here for that meditation group?” The pretty girl to his left nodded while a nerdy looking bloke and the little hippie girl both squeaked out a “yeah”. The man sitting on the barstool behind them just raised his eyebrows and went back to examining his buffed nails. “So, any of you know when whoever we’re supposed to meet is gonna show up?”

Max opened her mouth to answer the intimidating looking man in front of her when the door’s irritating bell rang again. Aggravated she looked up to see a busy looking woman in a navy blue business suit enter while talking on a cell phone. “Yes, I know Henry. Yes, the deadline is tomorrow. I got it, uh huh, yeah, I know! I’ve got to go, I’m doing business, okay? Bye Henry, bye Henry!” she ended the call with a harsh snap of her cell phone. Max watched the woman make her way over to the small group and tug a clip board out of her bag. “Okay, do I have a Maxine Gibbons here?”
“Max please.” Max said stepping forward.
“Ah, Hello Max, here’s your brief. Charles Caldwell?” the woman handed out the same sheet of paper to each of the remaining three members, Luke Perkins, Beth Carranza, and James Ward. Max looked down and read the sheet that the talkative woman had handed her. Oh dear lord, she was going to kill her boss. Max looked up with her eyes wide and looked at the other members of her group, they all seemed to have the same expression as her.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Max said turning her gaze to the woman.
“I’m afraid not hon.” the woman said with a small look of sympathy. “Your boss, his secretary, her friend, his girlfriend, and his sister have volunteered you all to be on a reality television show.” the woman said pointing to each of them in turn. Max didn’t know what to say, none of them did all they knew was this was going to be one long week.